{"nrhp_refnum":"82001946","name":"Hastings Square Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Rockingham, Henry, Chestnut and Brookline Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.356502000000035,"lon":-71.10927036448595,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-04-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A residential historic district in the Cambridgeport area of Cambridge, Massachusetts, centered on Hastings Square and including parts of Henry, Brookline and Chestnut Streets, covering about 5 acres of houses built mainly between 1860 and 1890.","why_significant":"The district is described as one of the finest Queen Anne period neighborhoods in Cambridge. The reviewer judged it locally significant for architecture as a coherent grouping of Queen Anne Revival homes around an open square. Later styles add variety, and the neighborhood has always been middle class.","narrative":"Hastings Square and adjacent Henry Street form a compact residential neighborhood in Cambridgeport, Cambridge, on a low rise above the Charles River. The Dana heirs conceived the square in the 1830s, and after a revised plan, houses began going up in 1852. The opening of the Cottage Farm Bridge, now the Boston University Bridge, made the area a desirable place to live. Large Queen Anne dwellings face the park on all four sides, with Italianate, Mansard and Shingle Style houses adding variety. Early residents in the 1860s included a tailor, a carpenter and a builder, while later, more elaborate houses were built for prosperous businessmen such as an organ manufacturer and a Faneuil Hall merchant. Examples include 75 Henry Street, designed by Hartwell and Richardson in 1892, and 302 Brookline Avenue, by Rand & Taylor in 1887. The district was recognized for its coherent late nineteenth century architecture around an open square.","period_of_significance":"1860-1890","architect_builder":"Hartwell and Richardson (75 Henry Street, 1892); Rand & Taylor (302 Brookline Avenue, 1887)","architectural_style":"Queen Anne, with Bracketed Italianate, Bracketed Mansard and Shingle Style examples","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Described as uniform and in good to excellent condition, with residential use throughout.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.829771-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/96/7911/63791196/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82001946.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001946/b8ad9faa11-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001946/b8ad9faa11-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hastings_Square_sign.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tim Pierce</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hastings_Square_sign.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791196","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings_Square_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5680445"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/hastings-square-historic-district-82001946/"}